Akame ga Kill: Prequel
by Pwwwww
Summary: One year before Tatsumi, Night Raid had a different member roster. Bulat, Lubbock and Najenda were fresh out of the army. Akame, Sheele and Mine had joined not long ago. This story will center around Leone, Lubbock and possibly Bulat. A few OC's to mix things up. Rated T for now but might change.
1. Chapter 1

**Note:**  
>I know many character will seem OOC in the beginning, but they are supposed to grow into the manga personalities as the story progresses. Some will be slightly modified, though, because they left not much space for growth.<p>

This is also my first fanfiction ever, my first piece of fiction writing ever outside school, so don't kill me ;_;

It's very likely this starts out as T and moves on to M like 90% of AgK stories because of the nature of the manga.

It contains 3 OCs that will be part of the story (sorry for the random names, they were generated randomly with some Internet generator), though we usually won't see the story from their point of view because they are mostly side characters/things to drive the story.

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**One year before Tatsumi**

"Ready?" a lean, short teen asked, whispering.

The teenager was crouching on a low, heavy branch of a lush tree. His green hair reached his coat's fur trimmed green hood, and a tuft of it fell over his left eye. His green eyes were fixed on a small group of soldiers. A blond, long haired girl, slightly older and about the same height, was kneeling on the branch of a nearby tree. She had a recurve bow tensed in the direction of the soldiers, and was observing them with big brown eyes. The group was in formation on a forest clear, seemingly awaiting instructions.

"Let's make this quick and clean, Lubbock," she answered.

Lubbock knew she could take about half of them before they noticed, but after that it'd be more difficult. So he had weaved a web from Cross Tail's cords, his Teigu, beforehand. A quick succession of arrows flew from their location in surprising silence. Three soldiers didn't see them until it was too late, and ended up with an arrow stuck to their back. The remaining three tried to escape in different directions, but they all got caught in the web. Swiftly, the cords tensed and they all stopped moving.

"Let's go."

With military precision, they started moving in the direction they knew their comrades were waiting. Both of them were quick on their feet, and agile enough to move from tree to tree without much difficulty. Lubbock had his mind clear, he knew they had made a clean job without chances the other soldiers heard. A girl with golden colored hair and matching eyes was waiting impatiently for them right in the border of the forest. She was a shapely woman, with great curves, which distracted Lubbock sometimes. Though, a mission was a mission, and he knew he couldn't afford to be distracted. A tall, bulky man in an white and gray armor stood next to her. He wielded a red spear with a gray handle.

"What is the situation, Leone?" Lubbock asked.

"They are about to strike. Bulat saw a man in the nearer house, and a family of three in the other one," she answered. The two houses could be seen from where they stood. They were both tiny wooden houses, and they were surrounded by cultivated fields. Small, green hills could be seen behind them, and the forest extended until just before them.

"Okay. From what we heard, the Imperial Army is under orders to kill them all. Let's get ready to move."

"Lubbock, with Leone," Bulat said looking at Lubbock, and taking command of the situation. He had been once a high-ranking Imperial Officer, and Lubbock respected him a lot for that. He was extremely skilled, and made good battle decisions. "Megumi, with me. We go to the farthest house. They are already approaching. Go!"

Lubbock and Leone dashed past the fields and reached the house. Unfortunately, by then, the group of soldiers was storming in. Lubbock took a millisecond to react and sent his cords to prevent their entry.

"Nu-uh, come back here!" Lubbock said, facing them.

"Transform! Lionelle!" Leone said excitedly as she gained lion-like features.

Tiny feline ears appeared from her head, blending in with her hair. The hair got longer, wilder, but kept its original color. A small lioness tail appeared from her rear, and her hands turned furry with claws instead of human nails. They looked like she had lion-themed gloves on. Smiling with new, improved teeth, she jumped at the soldiers that were being stopped by Lubbock's cords at the doorstep, punching the face of the first one, rendering him unconscious. Lubbock had weaved a pair of knives and was now throwing them at one of the soldiers, killing him. She punched the life out of the third one and ran inside the house. Lubbock followed after her, and was greeted with an amazing scene as soon as he got there. The inhabitant, a lean, narrow man, with short gray hair and bluish-gray eyes behind a pair of square glasses, was standing next to the slashed bodies of two imperial soldiers. He held a cooking knife covered in blood with both hands, pointing it at Leone, and was looking at her with a mix of determination and fear, slightly crouching, ready to jump. He had a bit of blood spray over his clothes, going from his chest to his left cheek. Lubbock wondered how on Earth he had managed to do that. He seemed like small man, not particularly strong, and the reports said he was just a farmer. No additional information was given to them. It was slightly suspicious, at best.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked them without shouting, maintaining his stance. Leone put a foot forward, with both hands on the air. She lowered her head a bit to show him that she meant no threat.

"Tsch, calm down. We came here to save you or something, but it seems you did a pretty good job on your own with just a cooking instrument. We're from the Revolutionary Army, we heard that you and the family next door were going to get killed under the presumption you were traitors to the Empire."

"I am not a spy," he said, looking at them with mistrust. He stood a bit more upright. Lubbock guessed that at least he wasn't ready to jump at their throats anymore.

"I know. We'd know if you were one of ours," she said, with a factual tone. The man lowered the knife a bit. He was still looking at them like they were about to jump and knock him out, best case scenario.

"Also, if she really wanted to kill you, she would already have done it," Lubbock added, shrugging. It was true, and they needed to get over this quickly. They had just a few minutes until they were to meet the soldiers who would be transporting the victims. "Come with us, we're supposed to get you and the guys next door to safety. Reinforcements will come if we don't hurry. And the other team is probably done by now."

The man kept the knife in his left hand, but extended his right one towards Leone. It was surprising, to say the least, since a couple of minutes ago he was about to skin them with his knife. But he looked calmer, somehow. Or at least that look of extreme determination had vanished. Lubbock was confused, and his first instinct was not to trust him.

"Ken. Nice to meet you."

"Leone." She shook his hand. "And this here is Lubbock."

They both nodded to each other and exited the house, trotting in the direction of the rendezvous spot, which was in the opposite direction of the hills, and well deep in the forest. Leone led the way, being followed by Lubbock and then by Ken. Lubbock trotted a bit to catch up, and leaned close to her.

"Uhm, Leone," Lubbock whispered, "we are not supposed to reveal our names."

"I know," she answered with a sweet tone. "But I have a good feeling about this guy."

They entered the forest again, and walked for a few minutes. The forest was lush at that the border, but near to the rendezvous spot it became sparse again and they reached a clearing. The other group was already there. Besides Megumi and Bulat, there were three more people. Ken's neighbours, Lubbock guessed. The mother was tall and slender, with big blue eyes and long chestnut hair. Her husband was a bulky, hardened type, with short black hair and small brown eyes. Holding his hand was a kid, around ten years old, who looked like a small version of her mother. The father and the mother were close together, and Megumi and Bulat flanked them rigidly. But when they saw the other team approach, he walked a few steps towards them.

"We'll be meeting the ones who will take you to a safe house here in five minutes. And, mister, if you could hand me the knife you'd really make us all feel safer. I think you're scaring the kid," Bulat said, holding his hand out for Ken to hand over the knife.

"I feel better with this, thank you very much," he answered, defiantly. Leone stepped towards Bulat slowly and in a curvy fashion, like a playful kitty.

"You know, he did beat a couple of Imperial soldiers single-handedly with that knife," Leone said suggestively. Megumi raised one of her very blond eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What are you implying?"

"We should really consider his potential."

"We'll take it up to the boss, in any case. But if he wants to come along we'd have to blindfold him." Bulat said. Lubbock couldn't believe he had let the knife issue slide, much less that he wanted to take him along. Ms. Najenda was going to get mad at them, probably. They were endangering the security of the base, blindfold or not.

"Ohhh, I can work with that," she said seductively. Ken kept looking them with a straight face, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Who said I wanted to join you?"

"Who said we wanted you to join?" Megumi asked, in the same tone, raising her eyebrow again.

"Touché." He said, smiling and uncrossing his arms. He was really a weird guy, Lubbock thought. He could do weird, he guessed, but he wasn't fully trusting this man at the moment. He was supposed to be a calm farmer, but he had beat two Imperial soldiers with a cooking knife. He had gone from seemingly mistrusting to wanting to join them. He was either a very bad actor or had a screw slightly loose.

Right then, a white carriage being pulled by two bay horses showed up. The were traveling along a small path. Four soldiers got off the carriage, and saluted Bulat. He returned the salute and gestured the family to go to the carriage. The soldier near the carriage helped the little girl get on it. Next in went the mother, and then the father. The soldier most near Ken looked at him indecisively, going from his face, to his knife, to his face again.

"We have orders to take you too," he said, nervously.

"He'll be coming with us if you don't mind. We'll be in charge of him. He looks pretty promising," Bulat said, politely.

"Sure. We'll go along then." He got into the carriage with the rest of the soldiers, and off they disappeared into the forest.

"Well. We'll blindfold you if you don't mind," Leone said, winking at him. Ken blushed a bit.

"Ah, sure."

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><p><strong>Footnote:<strong>  
>I'm sorry about the writing. I'm not really a good writer and I haven't really enjoyed writing for years. Hopefully this eases me a bit into writing again.<br>Also, the wording might be awkward at some points because my native language is not English. So I'm completely open to suggestions about different wording/phrases that I might use.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Bulat had sat Ken in the dining room, and left to take a bath, along with Lubbock. Leone and Megumi were entrusted to look after him, until the boss arrived with the rest of team.

"What we do here is assassination work for the Revolutionary Army," Leone explained. "We mostly follow the Revolutionary Army's orders, but when we are not, we take request from civilians. We then receive payment and if there is confirmation on the guilt of the targets, we murder them. If you choose not to join us you can either join the revolutionary army on other front, or work for us. Any questions?"

"Uhm... only if there is confirmation?" he asked, cautiously.

"Yes, only if there is confirmation," she answered. "Any other questions?"

"No," he said shaking his head. There was a very long silence between them. Megumi was sitting to her right, her arms crossed over her small chest, which contrasted greatly with Leone's. Her brown eyes stared intently at the newcomer, who had suddenly become nervous after being left alone with them. Though her staring might have been possibly related.

"So. We were told you were a farmer?" Leone started with an attempt at small talk.

"Yes. I used to grow all my food, mostly. Since we were away from most towns and all," he said, fidgeting with his fingers.

"Huh. That's that's nice. What about meat? Did you hunt or something?"

"Yeah, mostly. I did the hunting for both families. In turn, they got me things like milk and eggs whenever they could, since they had a horse which made travel easier."

"Oh, that's why you were moderately skilled?"

"Uh, no. I actually trained in martial arts before becoming a sort of hermit," he said, confidence lacking again in his voice. It made sense more sense to Leone now, but she still wanted to dig a bit deeper in his personality before the rest showed up. If she were to be honest, she didn't actually know much about this guy, she just got a hunch that he would fit the group and decided to go with it.

"Cool. Any hobbies?"

"You're going to run out of all your small chat, Leone," Megumi interjected with a frown.

"Don't be a sour ass and let us talk," Leone said, sticking her tongue at her.

"Ugh, fine," she conceded. "But I'm going to make some tea, or my head will explode."

Leone knew she wasn't actually annoyed by the small talk. She just liked being a pain with strangers, for some reason. Normally, she was nice to be around. Leone even considered her a good friend, despite her... peculiarities. Megumi stood up and disappeared to the kitchen.

"So, hobbies?" Leone asked again, with a smile. She was decided to appear friendly and open, and she was glad that Megumi had given them some minutes alone. She hoped he would be less intimidated by her only.

"Uhm. Mostly reading I guess. And hunting, of course. There's not much you can do where I live. Or lived, rather," he said with a sad smile. Of course, the poor guy had just lost his home. He had good motives to be nervous, and he was taking it all considerably well. After all, just a few hours ago he was just a farmer living in isolation. He would probably never see his stuff, his neighbours, his house, ever again.

"Don't worry hun, you'll like it here. It's plenty of fun! Even if some of the girls are a pain sometimes," she chuckled, thinking about how Mine would react when she saw him. She was going to be even more angry than Megumi. There was a small silence, and Ken dared to ask a question himself.

"So... is this all the team? You four, and your boss?"

"Oh, no. The boss and four more are missing. Akame, Honzo, Sheele, and Mine. You'll meet them soon. They are pretty nice. Mostly."

"Mostly?" he asked, looking alert. But in that moment, Megumi came back with three tea cups in a little tray.

"Green tea," she stated, and gave each person a cup. She was still frowning. Leone was eager to integrate him in the group, and couldn't understand why she was resisting so much to the idea. He was a promising assassin, a nice enough guy, and pretty handsome on the top of it.

"So! Ken here told me he's a fellow bookworm. I'm guessing he'd get along with you! And we could take him visit Lubbock's bookstore someday?" Leone asked, trying to get her involved in the conversation. She was still looking at Ken, but upon hearing no answer she looked at Megumi, curiously, only to see that her right eye was twitching, and she was giving her a hell of a glare.

"If you want to blast your cover it's okay. Get yourself killed. But don't blast Lubbock's cover too." She said, trying and failing to contain her anger. "The boss is going to go crazy when she hears you're just giving away everyone. We still haven't confirmed he's not a spy!"

Now Leone was mad too. Megumi might not agree to revealing the information, but after all, he was already in the base. If he wanted to sell their heads, he was already able to do so. The fact that they blindfolded him meant absolutely nothing if he was a spy. She was just trying to figure out more about him, and if he ended up being a spy, they could just kill him off.

"Ugh, it's no big deal. If he's a spy, we will kill him, and corpses don't talk."

"No big deal? You are sharing all kinds of sensitive information with this guy! What if he escapes?"

"If he escapes a secret base with four trained assassins, we seriously deserve it," Leone stated. "Plus, he already knows where we are, regardless of the blindfold. He knows our names, our faces, and our Teigus. This guy had all that information the moment we rescued him. If he ends up being a spy, it doesn't matter if he knows a bit more or a bit less. So, why don't we assume he's friendly instead of being completely hostile?"

There was a pause, and Megumi threw up her hands in defeat.

"Okay," she said, "okay. You're right about that. But if he does something slightly suspicious, he'll get three arrows to the chest. Understood?" she asked, with a slight smile. However Ken couldn't see her face from that angle, and Leone saw his olive skin turn slightly paler.

"Understood," Leone said, barely containing her laughter. She just couldn't take her seriously, she knew she wouldn't kill Ken unless she was certain he was guilty. Just like her, she always needed to confirm their target's guilt. But Megumi was always profuse in her threats. She turned her head, and looked at Ken in the eye.

"Understood, Ken? If you do anything suspicious, you're dead. I'll shoot first and ask later."

"Uh... understood," he said nervously. It was weird how he had gone from completely determined in a life-or-death situation, to a nervous mess when talking to them, in just a matter of hours. Leone wondered if she had been wrong about him. Could she had imagined the feeling? Though, she had been certain at the time...

Bulat opened the door, interrupting her train of thoughts. He walked in wearing just his white pants and black boots. He was a very muscular man in his twenty somethings, and Leone thought he was a very handsome man. They had hooked up once, but he hadn't seemed really interested at the time. And besides, she'd rather keep her love affairs unrelated to her job.

"I'll take over, girls." Bulat said with a big grin, and winked at them. Ken looked up and blushed slightly. Even he probably thought Bulat was handsome.

"Sure, pretty boy." Leone winked back and stood up. She saw Megumi give Ken one last death glare before going through the door, and she followed her to the hot springs. They walked for a few seconds in silence, and she looked at Megumi. She looked deep in thought, and she just felt the need to interrupt her.

"What's up with being so grumpy, Megu?"

"Just, this guy. Doesn't sit well with me," she said, not looking at her. She was opening up a bit, and Leone seized the opportunity.

"Why not? Be honest," she pressed. Megumi didn't answer right away. They reached the hot springs and began undressing. She removed her green top and kicked her black shoes before answering.

"I don't know, sis. Too good to be true, you know? He killed two guys before you even got there. How long did that took?" she asked. Leone was already undressed and she began submerging in the springs, while trying to remember. The water was perfect, and it soothed her tired muscles. Megumi removed her black shorts, finished undressing, and followed her into the springs.

"I don't know. It happened fast, but we had to punch some bad guys before that."

"What was he even doing before they came? Did he have that knife in his hand already?"

"I don't know," she answered, thinking hard. How did the room looked when she entered? She was trying to remember... but all she could remember was the two bodies piled up, and the look of determination in his face. The bloody knife and the bloody cheek. But nothing else. She didn't even recall if there was a table in the room or not, even if she supposed there would have been one, as everything happened in the kitchen. She frowned slightly. "I don't recall anything in the house indicating what he was up to before that. Maybe Lubba remembers, but I don't."

There was a small pause and Megumi submerged herself up to her nose.

"I don't remember anything particular about what he was doing," Lubbock's voice said. Leone and Megumi shared a look of shock as his head appeared from behind a bush. He was blushing slightly.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Megumi asked covering herself. Leone, however, was quicker, and threw a wooden bucket at his head, with perfect aim. It hit him right on his forehead, and bounced back to the girls, leaving a nasty red mark.

"Ouch!" he cried, holding his forehead and looking away. "I wasn't peeking!"

"Like hell you weren't!" Leone said, grabbing a towel and preparing to hit again.

"Well I had a reason!" he cried, covering his head with both hands, and preparing to dodge a hit. "Ms. Najenda is back, and she wants to see you both about the guy we brought in."

"Boss is here?" she asked. She had her towel wrapped around her, and she was coming off the water.

"Yes, she is. She said you should come over now," he uncovered his head and looked back at her. She had her arms crossed over her chest and look reasonably upset. "I'll go now so you can change."

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> As you can read, Bulat still hasn't come out. While it's not a main event, I'll try to be as tactful as I can with that. But if anyone wants to give me a few pointers on that experience I'd be more than glad.

This chapter was a lot of meh with no action and a lot of chatter but I promise I will have blood pouring soon :D.


	3. Chapter 3

This was supposed to be longer but it sat on my desk for too long. Finals and stuff.

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 3<span>**

Lubbock's head still hurt when the girls came back to the base. He had honestly not been peeking too much, and he felt the attack was completely undeserved, although he did realize his entry could have been a bit less... dramatic. He was sitting on the floor, resting his head and back against a column. Najenda was sitting in her chair. She was a gorgeous woman (objectively, according to Lubbock) in her mid twenties. She had silver short hair, and her left eye was a light shade of purple. She wore an eye patch over what was left of her right eye, and a green, mechanical arm where her right arm should have been. Still, she looked strong and feminine in her black suit which contrasted strongly against her pale skin. Najenda had been a general for the Imperal Army before deciding to join the Revolutionary Army. He had deflected along her, Megumi, and a number of other soldiers, most of them completely loyal to her. She led with a kind but firm hand, and this made her subordinates completely trusting in her.

Bulat was standing not far from her right side, but opposite to Lubbock. He looked up when Leone entered the room with her perpetual grin, followed by Megumi, who had an atypical scowl on her. Though, to be fair, today she had been scowling since they came back. She was clearly as comfortable as Lubbock regarding Ken. Leone, on the other side, seemed to like the new guy very much, and seemed glad to be able to talk to the boss about it.

"You should really start consulting me about bringing in people, Leone," Najenda started.

"Don't you trust the gut of a lion?" Leone interrupted, winking at her. The corner of Najenda's lips twitched a bit, and her eyes softened. Lubbock didn't know how Leone always got away with this kind of stuff, but she did. It was probably her bubbly personality, or the fact that she was mostly right about these things. The only time she had been wrong was with Honzo. She didn't like him at all at first, but then he proved to be a valuable asset. Lubbock speculated that since his Teigu was similar in essence to hers, she felt threatened by him. Honzo's Teigu was the Lykaon, which provided him with enhanced senses, a fortified skin, and some wolf-like characteristics. Sadly for Honzo it lacked the regeneration ability Lionelle had.

"What can you tell me about this guy?" Najenda asked.

"From what he told me? He grew his own veggies, he hunted his own meat, and trained in some sort of martial arts he did not reveal before moving in his house in the middle of nowhere. He likes hunting and reading."

"And from what you can guess?"

"Something happened to him before moving there, but he won't tell. He doesn't seem overly curious, he just asked if it was only us in the base and whether we killed only if we confirmed the guilt of our targets. And while he seemed determined and all back in his home, he was very nervous when talking to us."

"Megumi?"

"He is either an incredibly bad spy or an incredibly weird person," she stated. There was a small silence, in which Najenda kept looking at her as if she was expecting a larger explanation, and Lubbock decided to intervene as she didn't seem to take the hint.

"He asked the wrong questions, said all the wrong stuff, overperformed with the soldiers back there, and is exceedingly nervous around us. He is doing all the wrong things. Though, on the other hand, he might be intentionally fooling us into believing that, in order for us to think that the Empire couldn't have sent such an awful spy," he stated.

"That," she added pointlessly.

"Okay. Great," she said, looking deep in thought. "We'll ask him about this and see how he feels on the subject. But please, Leone, we're already too many here. A few good soldiers would be wonderful in the Revolutionary Army. Next time, we should hand the potential recruits over to them."

"Sure, boss. But I think he'll work better with us."

"We'll see. Could you call the rest?"

Leone nodded and disappeared behind the door. A full minute passed before she reappeared, with five people behind her. Right after her entered Ken, followed by a thin, pale girl called Akame. She had long, dark hair down to her knees, and red eyes. After her came in Mine, another petite girl, with pink hair tied in two twin tails and pink eyes. She wore a pink dress, and a very pissed expression on her face. Right next to her was Sheele, a slender woman, a bit taller than Mine but still shorter than Akame. She had purple hair, purple eyes, and a matching outfit. She wore square glasses and she was smiling. At the end of the group was Honzo, a lean but muscular man, with dark skin, dark hair, and small but bright green eyes. He wore black, loose pants and he was walking around barefoot.

"Ken," she called. Ken stepped towards her, and Lubbock noticed that his face had changed. He didn't look nervous anymore, and he didn't look scared. He had a determined look again. He kept feeling something was off with him. "My name is Najenda. I command Night Raid. I've been told you were informed of your situation?"

"Yes, I was."

"Would you be willing to join us?"

"Yes, I would."

"Excellent," she said, smiling. Apparently he had been okayed by the boss in under two minutes. Lubbock was slightly shocked by the fact, as she usually took things slower and was fonder of asking a lot about the potential recruit.

"We'll move on to our next target then," she said, catching his attention again. "First of all we have that minor case from last week. Captain Arato, who was accused of taking bribes from drug dealers. Was that confirmed, Leone?"

"Yep, he's guilty. While I was watching, he took about three bribes. Two for related murders and one for catching the dealers while selling the product."

"Sheele, can you take care of this? The day after tomorrow, he should be accessible. He's supposed to be in his home, no protection."

Sheele looked at her with a pondering expression for a moment, and smiled brightly. "Sure," she said, "leave it to me."

"Also we have been informed that there is a large human trafficking ring, particularly dedicated to children, that has its main base in the capital. We don't know their structure and we actually don't have much information about them. What we have is a location of a 'human storage', and we need to investigate this matter. This job has quite a high pay, as a number of families which have had their kids stolen from them have decided to pitch in and hire us. Will we take this job?"

Lubbock looked around to see his teammates' reactions. Ken still seemed to look determined, but there was a slight shade of something more now. He quite couldn't put his finger on what. And, while checking the reactions of the rest, he found that Honzo looked particularly affected by this. He vaguely recalled that he had hinted at some point that he had been a victim of child trafficking. He looked uncharacteristically uneasy. His normally tanned, square face looked sweaty and pale. It was logical, he figured, that he had some nasty memories reawakened by this job. Child trafficking was very common but due to the nature of their business they hardly ever got requests or information on the perpetrators.

There was an unanimous approval of the job. Leone would in charge of gathering more information. She'd head to the Capital tomorrow and make sure that the place was an actual human storage. Ken was supposed to go with her and help her out. It would be a sort of test for him, both to test his mental and physical strength. It was supposed to be a spying job so if Ken was any good for it, he could be quite useful, as most of the members who'd go to this kind of missions were not very proficient in hand-to-hand combat. Actually, as Lubbock was a bit ashamed to admit, he was currently the worst at it. He had resolved to change that, but his training was always forgotten in favour of other more interesting things. He was completely out of practice, but he was a bit shy for it, as he always felt the rest of the team was way better than him, with the clear exception of Mine. But Mine was a younger girl, and she was mainly useful for ranged attacks. And, even in close combat, she could still use Pumpkin, her Teigu, as it took different forms depending on the parts that were attached to it. While Mine always favored it as a sniper gun, it could also turn into a machine gun. Therefore, in his mind, he was still at the bottom of the list. Cross Tails could also alter its form and turn into knives or different weapons, but he was not very skilled with them yet. However at that moment he resolved to change that. He didn't want to be at the bottom of the list anymore. He didn't know how he'd do it, but he'd get stronger in all kinds of combat. Perhaps Bulat could help him out later.

After the meeting was over, and everyone started exiting the room, Najenda approached Lubbock.

"Lubbock, do you have a second?" she asked. "I want to talk to you in private."

"Sure," he answered, perplexed. He tried to ignore the intrusive thoughts he was having. He had been in love with Najenda for years, and he still kept wishing some day she'd notice him. But for as long as they were working, he made his best effort to not let such intentions interfere.

"I'd like to ask you to tail Leone and Ken. It's very important that they don't notice you, but you need to be there in case something goes wrong. And I know Megumi will probably be hanging out with you two before the mission, so let's take advantage of that. Ask her to go with you."

Ah, typical of their boss. He knew she had trusted him a bit too soon. So, he was expected to follow them without them noticing, which wouldn't be an easy task considering Leone's superb senses. The least he could do was try.


End file.
